Welcome Home, Daddy!

Finally, after 16 days without Daddy, he returned from Italy in one piece!

I decided it would be a lot of fun for me to surprise him at O'Hare airport. Since I had never driven there before by myself, I was a little bit nervous about getting in and out without getting confused. Our pastor's wife, who the girls call "Mrs. Suz" (or Thooz, if you're Abby) watched Emma and Abby for the afternoon so I would have fewer distractions.

Here are Emma and Abby in Mrs. Suz's car getting ready to go to Papa Pastor and Mrs. Suz's house for the afternoon. They were pretty excited that Daddy would be coming home soon!



Doug's plane was scheduled to land at 2:30pm and he was supposed to catch a bus that would not have left until 5:30 in the evening, putting him home by about 8:30pm. On my way there, I sent Doug a text message on his cell phone, hoping he would get it when he landed and not go to wait at the bus stop. As I approached O'Hare, I saw an American Airlines jet getting ready to land and wondered if that was Doug's flight. About five minutes later, Doug replied to my message, saying he had just landed and wouldn't be able to use his cell phone again untl he had past customs.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the International Terminal at O' Hare has to be about the easiest place to get in and out of. Parking (at least at 3:00pm on a Monday) was easy to find and only a short walk to the terminal building. Not knowing how long it would take for Doug to get through customs, I settled into a spot with Lizzie in her stroller and waited just outside the door to the baggage claim area. I called and checked in with Suz and let her know that I made it okay and was waiting for Doug. About a minute after I got off the phone, out walked Doug!



He was very glad to see me, of course, and seemed relieved that he did not have to wait the extra few hours for the bus. I wasn't sure what Lizzie's reaction would be since 16 days is a long time for a baby...would she remember him?


Lizzie just stared and stared for a long time, occasionally looking at me. She seemed a little confused that she was actually seeing Daddy instead of just hearing his voice on the computer!

We got back on the road as quickly as we could so we could miss the Chicago rush hour. We met up with the girls in the parking lot of Menards in Janesville.

Here is their reaction to their first glimpse of Daddy.

Abby immediately gave Daddy lots of hugs, smiles and snuggles. She was very happy!

It took Emma a few more minutes to get used to the idea of Daddy being back. She preferred to react to the emotions of seeing Daddy by acting very silly.

Once she recovered from all the excitement of the moment, Emma decided she needed to take a picture of Mommy and Daddy together again. Thanks, Emma!

I am so grateful that our family is together again. It was a definite challenge for all of us to be apart that long. I got a taste of what it must be like every day for those who are single parents. I am trying, with God's help, to remember to be thankful every day for all those little things that are easy to take for granted.